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I I. A-g- <br />DON'T MISS THE JULY ISSUE OF <br />WESTERN CITY MAGAZINE: STATE <br />BUDGET "REFORMS" AND TAX POLICY IN THE <br />NEW ECONOMY <br />• Principles of Sound Budget Management <br />Upon Which Any Reform of The State Budget <br />Process Should Be Based — by League Executive <br />Director Chris McKenzie <br />• South Gate Triumphs: How One City <br />Survived A Crisis And Began Rebuilding Public <br />Confidence in Local Government. <br />• How 15 Southern California Cities Are <br />Promoting Household Energy Efficiency <br />• Cause for Celebration: Redeveloping <br />Brownfields <br />• Legal Notes: Rubin v. City of Burbank: <br />Separating Church And State at City Council <br />Meetings <br />• Municipal Finance Series: The California <br />Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy. <br />Plus — Helen Putnam Awards Winners: <br />Benicia, Santa Monica and Temecula <br />All this, plus information on city jobs and <br />businesses that provide services to cities. <br />For over 75 years, the League's award - <br />winning Western City magazine has been the <br />best source of information for California city <br />decision makers. For subscription information <br />call: 916.658.8223, or visit the Western City Web <br />site at www.westerncity.com. <br />PAGE 4/PRIORITY FOCUS <br />BUDGETfrompagel 646660444•66066 <br />For local government, the message remains <br />the same: we strongly oppose cuts that are <br />unfair, disproportionate and ongoing. Unfortu- <br />nately this plans put forward by the governor and <br />the various legislative caucuses have violated <br />those principles. <br />The Senate Casts A Budget Vote; League <br />Opposes <br />The week revved up Tuesday with the Senate <br />voting on a proposed budget bill. The Democrats <br />put up 24 votes for a budget, the Republicans put <br />up 14 votes against a budget and two Senators <br />did not vote. The budget failed because it requires <br />a 2i3rds vote (27) for passage. The debate that <br />surrounded this budget "drill" was odd in that there <br />seemed to be little enthusiasm on either side for <br />the task that must be done. Indeed, the Minority <br />floor leader didn't even speak to the measure on <br />Tuesday. The fact that the outcome was a "fait <br />accompli' may have produced this unprecedented <br />floor debate. <br />The League opposed the budget proposal <br />because it included a one -time $1.2 billion cut to <br />local government. This is completely unaccept- <br />able and disproportionate to the amount of money <br />local government receives from the state general <br />fund. Not one Senator in either party spoke <br />against the cut levels to local government in <br />the budget bill!! As a result, the League put out <br />an alert to cities asking that they contact their <br />senators, whether they voted for the bill or not, and <br />communicate the message that this level of cuts <br />is simply too high! <br />On Wednesday and Thursday the Senate <br />voted on the same bill producing the same out- <br />come: the measure again failed passage. The <br />debate was a bit more edgy on Wednesday, but <br />no votes were changed as a result. The daily drills <br />appear to be an attempt by the majority party to <br />play the media angle and soften up the minority <br />party. So far, that strategy has not met with much <br />success. <br />Today the Senate met briefly and quickly <br />Continued on Page 5 <br />Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org <br />